My owners manual calls for coolant replacement at 100k miles. This 04 Tribute V6 uses the “Mazda premium yellow” coolant. Now the owners manual says not to mix colors, nor use orange long life coolant. Looking at different coolant brands, so many claim they will work with any other color, and claim …

This ought to be the same antifreeze as the familiar Prestone yellow stuff, or close enough to it. Do the standard drain and rinse, then you may add Prestone (in the normal 50/50 dilution).

Personally, I wouldn’t mix types, and if you are replacing the antifreeze you wan to flush out all the old stuff anyway. It would be simplest to use the OEM stuff and the cost difference for a couple of gallons is probably small. I would ignore all the claims on the generic antifreeze bottles and …

You should avoid Dexcol which is orange or pinkish and the old “green” antifreezes. The yellow long life antifreezes from Prestone, Peak or Zerex are essentially the same as the coolant that is in it now. Since most of these are around 410/gallon, you could check with the Mazda dealer for their pr…

They do, however, each have specific specifications for their coolant. Do you happen to know which specific type of antifreeze meets the mazda specifications? I don’t know what mazda requires, but I don’t begin to believe the application information from the antifreeze manufacturers. For example,…

As you mix ethylene glycol (not propylene glycol, the stuff that’s supposedly safe for pets); stronger than 68%, the freezing point starts to drop back down till if you got to virtually pure ethylene glycol again; its freezing point would be [-8 degrees F]. A little off-the-subject FYI for all you “…

Thanks for the reply (and to all who replied). That’s sort of what I thought, though the price is not really the issue. I haven’t changed coolant in several years, and back then, all that I needed was green. Now I see the “one size fits all” and wondered if it was advertising hype or really true. I …

I will go out on a limb and say that by the time you find out what the coolant specs are for your Trib and find a non-Mazda supplier, you might as well buy it from the Mazda parts counter. I would not go with a so-called universal coolant. It is hard to find specific coolants outside of dealerships…

Interesting link. I see what you mean. Zerex is recommending long-life (orange) coolant. Mazda’s owners manual specifically recommends against that. Thanks

Thanks for the in-depth info! Cost was not really the issue, more a question about possible advertising hype. The engine is basically the Ford 24V 3.0 V6, and AFAIK the Trib is built in the same Kansas City plant as the Escape, so coolant formulated for Ford should be ok. Just to be safe, I’ll proba…

Mazda yellow premium antifreeze question

Maintenance/Repairs

Tester January 9, 2008, 2:29am 5

Yes. The newer antifreeze/coolant is compatible with all cooling systems.

Who do you think provides all the antifreeze/coolant to the auto manufacturers? They don’t make it.

Tester

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Mazda yellow premium antifreeze question

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